


i'm latching on babe

by ThisJoyAndI



Category: Nashville (TV)
Genre: F/M, post 3x11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 17:45:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3332072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisJoyAndI/pseuds/ThisJoyAndI
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(now i know what i have found)<br/>Avery returns home, sees that Juliette has placed his chair in their daughter’s nursery, and wonders just how he has gotten so lucky. '"Well, it's still the ugliest chair I've ever seen. But I love you..." The words still make his heart swell, his throat tighten with emotion, but Juliette doesn't stop speaking so he tunes back in, "...and for some reason you love that chair. However, because you love it so much,” she murmurs, “I've decided that you can be the one who wakes up for night-time feeds. A few nights of that and you'll be begging for me to get rid of the chair in exchange for some sleep.”'</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'm latching on babe

 

Juliette is sleeping when he finally slips into bed, a hand placed protectively over her belly. He eyes the ring that now rests upon on her finger, sparkling in the soft moonlight, and, suppressing a wide smile, rubs the matching one on his hand, still completely and utterly perplexed as to how he has gotten so very lucky.

Two years ago Juliette Barnes didn't even know his name, and now she's his wife.

Sure, Juliette and he may still have some issues to work out, and he's fairly certain a week will never go by without them arguing over something, but she is his wife, and in a few short months she will be giving birth to their daughter. He's still shocked she agreed to marry him – because even though he knows she loves him, just as he will always love her, well that doesn't change the fact that marriage is a gigantic step in their relationship.

His face freshly washed and teeth brushed, Juliette awakens slightly when he curls up beside her, mumbling something about his freezing feet. He stifles a laugh, entwining her hand with his. He cannot help but marvel at the action as he feels a soft kick from his daughter when he places their joined hands back onto Juliette's belly. He apologises silently for interrupting her rest, pressing a soft kiss to Juliette's temple as he gently sweeps away flyaway strands of the blonde locks he so desperately hopes their daughter shall inherit. At the feeling of his lips against her skin, Juliette fully awakens, shifting as much as she can with a large and seemingly constantly expanding belly in the way, offering him a small smile as she looks directly at him, moonlight streaming into their bedroom through open curtains.

He is the first one to speak, offering an explanation for his absence that night – the first night of their marriage, he realises with a grimace, apologising more profusely. Juliette waves away his attempts at apologising, telling him she was in bed by seven anyway, and most likely asleep by seven-thirty.

_Still._

There is no place he should have been that night other than with his wife, and he makes a mental note to wake up early tomorrow to buy Juliette breakfast from that place she loves...and probably some flowers too, just to be safe.

“Gunnar sends his congratulations,” he tells her, stroking her arm without thinking. He hadn't touched her in so long, so the last twenty-four hours have been mainly comprised of him touching her every chance he gets - a lingering touch on her shoulder, a kiss pressed to the soft crease of her neck. He is discovering Juliette Barnes all over again, and he cannot think of a better experience.  

She arches an eyebrow in response, but smiles nonetheless. He knows she and Gunnar have never had the best experience with one another, have never seen each other in the same light he does, but what he does know is that Gunnar sending well wishes for their marriage means more to Juliette than she'll ever let on.

“So he should,” she murmurs cheekily, screwing her nose up at him as he rolls his eyes. They waste a few moments kissing, his left hand resting on her belly as his right curls around her neck, pulling her as close to him as possible, until he breaks away from her lips, primarily to breathe but also because he has remembered the question he needs to ask her.

She pouts slightly at the loss of contact, but shifts around in his arms once more (a process that takes quite a few moments, a few muttered curses and a few deep inhales), the back of her head pressed against his chest. It's only been one night, but he cannot imagine not sleeping like this, Juliette's hair tickling his nose and his arm curled around her belly, protecting both wife and his daughter. He can barely make himself think about the fast approaching time where their daughter won't be safe in Juliette's belly but rather resting her crib a whole room away, if only to ensure he doesn't spend the next few months stressing over something he cannot control. Inside Juliette or not, he will always protect his daughter - and her mother - from harm, as much as he is able. 

“I hope you didn't shift that chair by yourself,” he murmurs into Juliette's ear. Her eyes are closed, her breathing steady, and for a moment he thinks she just may have fallen asleep on him – something that won't be a rare occurrence over the coming months, according to the stacks of baby books his mother made him read, back when he thought he and Juliette would be raising the baby separately, back when he thought their chances of reconciling were slim to none.

Now he knows just how much things can change over a few months, and for the better.

She scoffs at him, shaking her head slightly. He can just picture the wrinkles between her eyebrows that surely have appeared at such a question, at such a seemingly idiotic enquiry. It's not stupid, not for him. “Of course not,” she tells him, slightly exasperated. “I'm not an idiot. Emily came over to see how I was doing, and I made her move it. She seemed fine enough to move it, even though it took a while. By the end of it all, she was pretty cross with me.”

He chuckles. “Why?”

“The chair may have ended up in the nursery eventually, but that doesn't mean I didn't try it out in a few other rooms beforehand,” Juliette informs him, drawing his arm tighter around her belly, and lacing her fingers in-between his, their rings clinking against each other. “I even thought about putting it out on the patio, but I knew how annoyed you'd be if it got ruined by the weather, even accidentally.” She breathes in slowly, belly shifting under his palm.

“I think the nursery is a perfect place for it,” he says. “I can hardly wait until she's born and we can hold her in it.”

“Well, it's still the ugliest chair I've ever seen. But I love you," the words still make his heart swell, his throat tighten with emotion, but Juliette doesn't stop speaking so he tunes back in, "...and for some reason you love that chair. However, because you love it so much,” she murmurs, “I've decided that you can be the one who wakes up for night-time feeds. A few nights of that and you'll be begging for me to get rid of the chair in exchange for some sleep.”

He cannot contain his laughter, pressing another kiss against her temple. 

The moon is high in the sky when they drift off to sleep, Mr. and Mrs. Avery Barkley and baby all curled up together, happy and content as they have never been.

 

 


End file.
